The Look
by AnonymousTipster
Summary: A team bonding weekend brings Eric and Nell together. Just some drabble written late at night, about 1500 words. Neric. Nell's POV. Enjoy! Rated T, just to be safe.


**A.N. - Hey, I'm sorry for not writing anything for AGES. I've had several messages about my other Neric fic, Last Night, and I'm going to work on that as soon as I can! I'm the worst updater ever, I know. But this is a one-shot I ended up writing while listening to Crystallize by Lindsey Stirling on repeat. It's dubstep violin (yep, I know) and has almost nothing to do with what I wrote, but it's a cool song. Anyways, I'll stop rambling now and get on with the fic! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer - I don't own anything, sadly.**

You look up at his face and see it again. The look he only gets when you're around. The look you've only ever seen on him. Sometimes, you watch him across the room when you're in Ops and he's talking to Sam or Callen or Kensi or Deeks and you don't have anything to do and he never gets the look then. He got it when you told him you sent the flowers to yourself and he got it when he was talking about his excellent tropical survival skills and he has it now, when you're both standing in this tiny little trailer because you decided it was a good idea to head back inside, away from the cold. The team are still out there, watching the fireworks and maybe if you went back out now you could avoid having to see him with that look, because it just doesn't seem real. It can't be real. You bet there isn't even a look and you bet you're just imagining it. But then you look up at his face and you see it again, and if it isn't real then why are you always seeing it?

You blink and suddenly he seems a lot closer to you than he was before. You can almost feel his heartbeat, and you shouldn't know that it's beating at seventy-two beats per minute. He shouldn't be this close to you and you shouldn't be letting him be there. None of this should be happening, but your faces are only inches away now and you don't even know what's going on. Something should be stopping you, like one of the machines bleeping or the team coming up, but you're not in Ops and nothing does. You don't make up an excuse, like stopping the tapes or having to talk to Hetty, and he doesn't stop either. Nothing could stop this now and you don't know if it was you who closed the tiny gap or him, but suddenly his lips are on yours and it feels like a tidal wave just hit you.

Everything you've worked so hard to keep buried inside, for the sakes of professionalism and your jobs and your friendship just bursts out, and you find that you don't want it to stop any more. You don't know exactly when it changed, when you stopped thinking of him as your best friend and your brother and when you started thinking of him as something else, but it doesn't really matter. All that matters right now is him leaning down to you and wrapping his arms around your back and you letting your hands drift up his spine and threading your fingers through his thick blonde hair. One thing you know for sure is that you've wanted to do this for a long time now and it's every bit as magical as you thought it would be. He's still kissing you and he hasn't stopped and you can't explain why you didn't do this way before now. Eventually, your lungs start screaming and you have to break away, because even with everything you're feeling right now your body still needs air to function.

He looks down at you and you can feel him watching. You meet his gaze and you're both breathing heavily. Neither of you are quite sure what to say after that, so you just keep staring intently into his eyes. They're a brilliant blue, just like they always are, and they seem to catch the light perfectly, no matter where you are. They glisten when he's in the bullpen and they sparkle when you're together in Ops and right now they're shining brighter than you've ever seen them before. You can see your own reflection in them and you notice that your eyes are bright too, as if someone lit a raging fire inside your head. He opens his mouth slightly and he looks as if he's about to say something, so you tear your mind away from his face and try to focus on the words coming from his lips.

"Nell... I… Do we…"

He's tripping up on almost every letter and you can't make out anything he's saying. His pulse is speeding up rapidly and you can feel his arm around your waist. Your fingers are still tangled up in his hair and you just can't seem to concentrate enough to figure out his babbling. You manage to zone back in for the last four or five words of his ramble and when you hear them it sends a shockwave down your spine.

"Nell, I… I love you."

He looks back down at you, with exactly the same look as he had when you were sitting around the fire with the others and when you were walking back to the trailer and when you were standing at the door outside. It's the same look he always has around you, the same look he doesn't get around anyone else, the same look you've never quite been able to work out before. Suddenly, it seems to make sense. You figure out the look and you know why he doesn't get it around the others and why it always made you feel like you were hallucinating. You realise what the look means.

He loves you.

You love him too.

And now it makes sense.

You look straight back at him and the smile just sweeps across your face. He blinks, then smiles back, because even though he's confused and doesn't particularly know what the smile means, it has to be a good sign. You start shaking your head and lean forward once more. You run your fingers through his hair, pulling him in closer to you. His grip tightens slightly around your waist and you lean your forehead against his. You're still smiling and you gaze right into his flawless blue eyes.

"I love you too."

This time he smiles for real and he pulls you in once more. Your lips fit together seamlessly and it seems like you were meant for each other. There's nothing more perfect than this in the world right now, and you wish that this moment could last forever.

Just as you finish your kiss, you hear the sound of footsteps approaching from outside. He leans back over the counter to the window and sighs.

"The team are on their way back. I think they're a little more drunk than when we left them."

You laugh slightly. You can hear them from inside the trailer – Deeks is singing something that sounds a little like a Britney Spears song, and Kensi is yelling something about a strangled cat. Your eyes meet his across the room and you smile again. You just can't help it now. He laughs a little too, before reaching over and straightening your shirt slightly. He has a bit of lipstick on his cheek, so you wipe it away gently with your thumb. He looks down at you again and you feel your heartbeat speed up once more.

The door crashes open and Deeks barges in. He instantly staggers over to his bed and collapses on top of it. Kensi stumbles in after him and falls onto the detective's bed too. Within seconds, they're both snoring. You look to Eric and he raises an eyebrow, making you giggle again.

Sam and Callen walk in after, less intoxicated than the others but still pretty tipsy. Each of them go to their own resting places on the two couches and lay down there, without saying a word to either of you. They too are asleep within moments of laying their heads down, and this leaves you and Eric as the only two awake in the vehicle.

He pushes himself away from the counter and walks over to shut the door. The sun is already starting to rise outside, and you were supposed to be driving back to LA tomorrow. He takes a quick glance over to the group of agents passed out around you and sighs.

"Looks like I'm driving tomorrow."

You grin and give him a quick kiss, then head off into your own room.

"Better get some rest then."

You can feel him watching as you walk away. Taking a short glimpse over your shoulder, you see him smiling at you. A small grin spreads across your own face and you shut the door behind you.

Falling onto the bed, your beaming expression grows even more. Finally, everything makes sense. He's more than your brother now and he loves you and you love him too. It's perfect and you can't think of anything else. Slowly, you close your eyes and start to drift off to sleep. He's going to be there for you tomorrow and together you can work out how to tell the team (especially Hetty) and for once it all seems to fit.

Everything falls into place after all.

You're in love with Eric Beale.

And it all makes sense now.

**A.N. - Kinda strange, and possibly sleep deprived, but please review!**


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